


Above Consequences

by PinkandRed (LucyRed), Sammykh



Series: Anomaly [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Chara controls the RESETS, Chara doesn't care about morals, Chara never died, Chara's Pronouns are They/Them, Older!Chara, Other, Poor Sans, RoyalChara, Sans is a ball of angry grump, WHERE are the CharaxSans fics??, and forcefulness, became ruler of the Underground, sadistic chara, seriously, so yeah there's gonna be some aggression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-13
Updated: 2016-06-26
Packaged: 2018-07-14 21:34:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7191416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LucyRed/pseuds/PinkandRed, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sammykh/pseuds/Sammykh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It had only been a minor side project for entertainment, really. They RESET all the time anyway, so they may as well amuse themselves by 'conquering' every monster in the Underground. It's ridiculously easy - Chara knows what to say and do to make anyone swoon, and a list in the back of their journal had every name ticked off.<br/>...well..except one...<br/>For some reason, they could not for the life of them get that small skeleton to be remotely interested in them. Nothing they said or did could persuade him to give them the time of day. At first it had been something that Chara could easily shrug off - it had never been a major concern. But that blank space next to his name continued to bother them until they decided to devote an entire timeline to finally being able to cross Sans off of their list.<br/>It's not like they have anything better to do...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It's the Greatest Honor

**Author's Note:**

> WOW yep this is definitely a thing we wrote...believe it or not...there weren't any CharaxSans fics out there that were non-child Chara, and/or good, and/or too short/abandoned. This annoyed me because it's a perfect hateship. Sammy was iffy at first but I dragged her into it deeply. So if you wanna stay immune, best get out.  
> Because you WILL learn to love/hate it.
> 
> Points -  
> Chara never made the plan with Asriel and thus never died
> 
> Chara still has control of the RESETS, SAVES, LOADS, etc. They can load from any point they want, as they've had time to master their RESET powers.
> 
> As of the moment, Asriel is dead. Chara occasionally kills him to rid themselves of their stand - in conscience. It's not a big deal because at any moment they can RELOAD to a point where he's still alive. Asgore and Toriel have died of old age, so this leaves Chara as sole ruler of the Underground. Yes, you are free to be filled with dread at that thought.
> 
> Sans has lived through multiple genocide/good runs, and so harbors a lot of hate towards Chara. Chara is unaware of his knowledge of the RESETS, though. For now. He tries to keep it that way.
> 
> This makes the skele bros (and, well, everyone, really) younger than they are canonly. But not ridiculously so. I'd say Sans is in his young adult years if I had to guess? IDK no one knows.
> 
> Chara isn't defined as male or female, so for the 'intimate' moments, everything is pretty vague. And Sans is a skeleton. So...y'know...not porn.  
> ANYWAY. I think that's everything so either go on or go away because we're not stopping.

One moment he was being executed by a corrupt officer of the new royal guard, and next he's waking up in bed, hand holding his neck as he pants. His sockets stay black as he hurries to calm himself down. He looks at the calendar that he's hung in his direct line of vision, specifically for this reason. Sans counts up the blur of days in his head, giving a groan and rubbing at his skull. 

_ Two months.  _ Two months of tyranny, terror, and government abuse at the hands of the older Dreemurr child. This was, what, the fifth time they'd tried this? It should get old after the second time. They’ve never gone that long before, though. It could even have been longer, going on for maybe months more after he died. He had managed to stay alive for quite some time before he was caught and slaughtered for some made up offense of ‘law’.

“damn _ kid _ .” Sans growls as he gets out of bed, stuffing his feet into his slippers. In spite of it almost always being close to their twenty-third birthday, Sans never gave up the habit of referring to them as though they were a child.

Sans gives a weary sigh, pulling on his shirt and jacket before wandering out of his room,  “Paps? you up?”

_ “ _ OF COURSE I AM, BROTHER!” The younger sibling shouts from downstairs. Sans smiles - it was always nice to hear that voice again.  “COME DOWN FOR YOUR BREAKFAST SPAGHETTI!”

Sans shortcuts down to his seat by the table, getting comfortable and grinning. After weeks of eating nothing besides whatever scraps he could find, he's more than happy to choke down a half-raw half-burned plate of noodles. And seeing how happy Papyrus was when he finished it all and asked for seconds was a really good sight to see after having witnessed his murder for the who-knew-how-many’th time.

They're both chewing on the barely edible meal, Papyrus chatting away as Sans zones out, sockets growing dark as he remembers Papyrus begging for the lives of the innocents he was protecting before being split in half by the corrupt guard’s blade…

_ “SANS _ !”

_ “wassup?! _ ” Sans jolts as he's mercifully yanked back into the present, grinning at Papyrus’s annoyed expression, “heh. sorry, bro. you say somethin’?”

The younger skeleton gives a huff,  “I SAID THAT THE NEWEST RULER OF THE UNDERGROUND IS IN THE VILLAGE AS WE SPEAK!”

“...oh yeah..?” Sans mumbles, idly stirring his breakfast.

“YES! CHARA!”

Sans winces at the name, fingers curling into a fist,  “really? that's pretty cool.” He says flatly, getting up and putting his dishes in the sink,  “i think i’m gonna go for a walk. you wanna come?”

“I'M PROUD OF YOU FOR NOT WANTING TO BE NOT ACTIVE, BROTHER! BUT I MUST TRAIN AT UNDYNE’S HOUSE TODAY!” Papyrus says, straightening up proudly,  “I'LL BE A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD BEFORE YOU KNOW IT! EVEN BEFORE  _ I  _ KNOW IT! NYEHEHEH!”

Sans chuckles and gives a nod as he slips out the door,  “you got it, bro. good luck.” He gives a wave goodbye and steps outside. He barely makes it a yard away when-

“Excuse me, but are you Papyrus? The brother of Sans? There is some important news I have for him.”

Sans shifts his jaw, stopping and turning to find himself looking at a tall human wrapped in royal robes talking with his brother as he stands in the doorway. 

The absolute hatred in his eyes is hard to suppress as he gives a forced chuckle and a faux grin.  “that so?”

Chara turns around to see him, looking a little startled, and smiles. “I apologise, I thought you were out. As I was saying...Sans you have been chosen to work in the Castle. Duties would mostly include paperwork, but I am sure you can manage. Do you accept?”

Oh  _ fuck  _ no.

He rolls his eyes to the side, leaning back on his heels,  “dunno about that. with all respect, of course, you might’ve made a mistake. i’m uh, not exactly the working type.” He gives a wink, left eye staying open.

Papyrus grabs Sans, lifting him up off the ground and holding him close to his face,  _ “SANS HOW CAN YOU EVEN ASK THIS ISN'T A QUESTION BROTHER YOU'VE BEEN ASKED TO WORK IN THE PALACE OF THE MAJESTIES THIS IS THE GREATEST HONOR!!” _

Sans closes one eye,  “wouldn't ya miss me, Paps?”

“Surely not, see, your brother has been selected and promoted for special training by our Captain of the Royal Guard, Undyne. You will have rooms in the castle, nearby each other.” Chara explains, pleased that this was going better than they’d hoped.

Sans narrows his eyes as Papyrus gives an excited squeal and hugs him close, taking advantage of his face not being in either his brother’s or his murderer’s view. This fucking prick...what do they  _ want _ with him? These past few RESETS he’s found himself being harassed more and more. He’s getting just a little sick of it.

If it makes Papyrus happy, though…

He sighs, brushing off his jacket with one hand lazily as his brother sets him back down,  “well. when ya put it like that..”  He says dryly,  “how can we refuse.”

“Excellent. I shall expect your arrival at the castle tomorrow morning. Good day.” They turn, and walk away, hands formally behind their back as they head back to the castle.

The glare Sans casts on their back as they walk away is heated. His eye nearly flares up but he blinks and turns his head away before he accidentally or ‘accidentally’ blasts them to pieces. How could that smug brat even look him and his brother in the eye sockets? They are remorseless. It’s all just a game to them. He groans at the thought of living in the same structure. Yes, it’s a giant castle, but it’s still way, way too close for comfort... 

Sans watches his brother rush back into the house, change his mind, and then rush to tell Undyne before he starts packing. He stands there a bit in the snow, black eye sockets staring at his slippers. What is Chara up to this time?

Giving a growl, Sans turns around and resumes his walk anyway. Regardless of how soon everything has gone to shit, he still needs to clear out his head from what’s real and what isn’t. Less than an hour ago he’d been staring a helmeted guard in the face as their blade swung down at his neck. He rubs at the spot where the axe connected with the vertebrae. There’s a small scar there. Barely noticeable. But he can feel the dip with his fingers.

There are two more such marks on his sternum, and one on his left shoulder blade. He knows that he soon won’t be able to keep track of all his death marks. The thought makes him shudder but also clench his fists, which he buries deep in his pockets as he walks past the Snowdin village border. He’s going to need time to brace himself to act happy while  _ living with  _ that murderous psychopath...a  _ lot _ of time..


	2. The Move In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara assures Sans that none of this sudden 'moving in' business has anything to do with him. It's a lie, but when have they ever told the truth?

The next morning, Chara is sitting at their throne, bored, and awaiting the castle's new guests. They don’t have much of a plan. For now they are just going to wing it. Seeing how Sans reacts to being in close quarters with them is a good way to start.

Papyrus bursts into the throne room, striding forward happily and proudly while Sans lazily tags behind him with his hands in his pockets. He glances around the ornate room with its dazzling decoration, intricate design, and priceless ornamentation and then shrugs, coming to a stop behind his brother as Papyrus gives a quick bow and prattles for a bit about how honored they both are and how he promises to serve the kingdom well. Sans just gives a bit of a thumbs up at the end of his tirade, grinning a little. It’s always nice to see Papyrus so happy. At least  _ he’s _ having fun.

Chara puts on their brightest smile. “Greetings! I trust your trip was pleasant?”

“ASIDE FROM HAVING TO TRAVERSE THROUGH HOTLAND OUR TRIP WAS MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY!”

Sans sighs quietly and yawns behind his hand, one eye closing as he just nods in agreement.

They chuckle. “Good to hear. So, ready to get started? I can show you where to be if needed.” They offer with a wave of their hand.

“I WOULD BE GLAD TO IF I DID NOT ALREADY HAVE AN APPOINTMENT WITH CAPTAIN UNDYNE!” Papyrus says.

Sans shuts one eye,  _ ‘Paps no don’t do this to me..’ _

“SANS, HOWEVER..!”

_ ‘don’t do it bro.’ _

“WILL BE GLAD TO KNOW WHERE HE WILL BE WORKING, I’M SURE!”

Chara can’t guess that Sans is screaming on the inside by looking at his casual expression as he grins and gives a shrug, “might as well figure out what rooms to avoid.”

_ “SANS _ !”

“Fair enough.” They say, amused, as they stand from their throne. “This way Sans.”

“right behind ya chief.” Sans sighs silently, “later bro.” He trots after them, keeping a neutral expression on his face. 

 

They gave him a basic tour of the place. The library, best place for paperwork, the kitchen, and the gardens.

“And last but not least, your room. Your brothers is next to yours.” They say as they reach the end of the tour.

Did that take as long as Sans felt it did, or did it just seem endless because he was stuck with the worst person in the entire world?

“sweet. thanks.” Sans opens up the door to his new room. Well. His room at the castle, at least. Weekends and days off will still be spent back in Snowdin. It’s just a place to crash during the workweek. He steps inside, “welp. great tour. see ya.” He puts a hand on the doorknob and starts to close it, hoping for Chara to take their leave. Fin

However, that hope is made impossible as they lean against the doorpost, more in the room than out. “So, what do you think?”

He decidedly takes a step back from the door, looking around, “pretty nice.” He pushes on the mattress a bit, “cozy.” Sans finds he really can’t muster any conversation.

“Well, if you have any complaints let me know.” They say, smirking and shooting him a wink, before turning and heading out down the hall.

Sans gives a shudder, quickly closing the door behind them and rubbing at the back of his neck to get rid of all the uneasy shivers hiding in his spine. That creep unnerves him like no one else can. He notices a uniform on his bed - pretty standard purple and white robes. He feels the material with his bony fingers, and decides it’ll make a good cleaning rag before tossing it aside and hopping onto the mattress.

No force in the Underground is going to pry him out of his favorite hoodie and shorts.

 

Sans does his first self-assigned task of testing out his new bed for comfort level fairly well. He even goes the extra mile of taking two hours on this careful research instead of one. When he wakes up he decides that, as much as he hates to admit it, the castle bed is comfier than his one at home. He’ll fall asleep without trouble. Not that that’s ever a problem of course.

_ Staying _ asleep is the only issue he ever has. And since he’s still recovering from another genocide run, it’s definitely going to be a while before he can feel well-rested.

_ ‘speaking of sleep…’ _ Sans rolls off of his bed, pushing back his hood and strolling over to the door,  _ ‘time to do a little mattress shopping.’ _

He steps out into the hall, doing a check to make sure Chara isn’t around before picking a direction and trotting off. If this is where his new job is, then he’s going to need new hiding places to avoid it. It only takes him about two minutes to figure out that the right wing of the castle is mostly unoccupied (why, he doesn’t know or care), and about five to discover that it’s full of empty rooms and thus empty beds.

He enters one of the nicer bedrooms, examining the painted walls and intricate window designs in quiet appreciation. Yeah, he can imagine himself sneaking away from paperwork to crash here. Although noting that he can’t use teleportation makes him give a weary sigh. While he used his shortcuts back in Snowdin freely, he can’t do so with Chara being as consistently close. As far as the Prinx knows, Sans has no powers, and is a weak, helpless little 1 HP monster (something they’ve personally jeered at him during the last genocide run), and the skeleton is far too happy to let them keep thinking so.

The less they expect, the easier it is to stay under the radar.

Sighing at the idea of having to actually walk everywhere instead of using his shortcuts, Sans hops up onto the mattress and rubs at his shin idly. “really outta shape…” How that’s possible for a skeleton he doesn’t know, but all he has to know is that it’s pretty inconvenient.

 

Chara meanwhile, had to attend to a few things, before returning to Sans’s room, knocking on the door.

No answer.

They open the door, to find the room empty. 

Damn, he sure is slippery. They weren't even gone that long. No matter, they have plenty of time to search for him.

 

Yep this bed is testing out good, too. So far anyway. He’d better take a few more minutes to make sure it’s up to par. Sans shrugs off his hoodie when he finds himself getting too warm under the intense light shining through the window, laying it across his face and lazily drooping his arms over it. He stretches out his toes and sighs - royal beds are definitely something he doesn’t mind getting used to.

“Good to see you enjoying the beds.” 

Ah  _ shit _ -

Sans jolts up, his hoodie falling down and covering his head before he scrambles to tug it back down. “...heh. yeah you should probably get used to that. ” He grins to keep back the hateful glare, and his desire to start  _ fleeing _ for his life...less than forty-eight hours ago he’d been on the run from them and their recruited army.

“What do you think of it?”

“pretty cozy.”  Sans gets off of the mattress, tugging his jacket down all the way,  “10 outta 10.”

“Glad you think so. Anyway, you must be wondering why you got the job in the first place.” 

He shifts his jaw, rolling his eyes up and leaning back on his heels, “i’m a little curious. i doubt it’s ‘cause Undyne mentioned how i’m such an outstanding, hard worker… ”

They chuckle. “Well, your brother shows great promise in his training, but he was too worried about being apart from you to accept the special training his promotion would require. He is  _ very  _ skilled.”

Sans narrows one eye and glances away, leaning back a bit. “you’re sayin’ you offered him this before?” Papyrus would  _ never _ have kept something like that from him. Still however, that  _ might _ actually be true...they’ve seen Papyrus fight for others’ lives several times by now, and he truly is a force to be reckoned with when it comes down to it. It would make sense if Chara did really want him working for them. Though if it comes down to them trying to destroy the Underground again, Sans knows Papyrus will do what’s right.

“Oh, many times.” More than possible. “He was admittedly anxious about the promotion, and despite reassurances her would refuse. Then, he admitted his worries, and accommodations were made.” They explain with a grin.

“...uh huh…”  Sans squints at them, his doubt obvious in spite of his attempts to sound convinced,  “..sounds reasonable. i’m just ‘hired’ because of Papyrus, then, huh?”

“Precisely.” 

“...so. that mean i don’t actually have to do anything?”

“Technically, yes, that is true. Ideally though I would like you to do some paperwork on occasion to keep up appearances. Your brother might get distracted if he never sees you working a job you  _ should  _ have after all. 

Sans shrugs, “fair enough. you can count on me. to mostly not do much of anything...no promises about actual work though.”  He gives a lazy wink.

“Besides, good company can be hard to find.” They add with a slight smirk.

“.....probably not gonna find it here either…” Sans coughs into his fist. Hopefully he’s reading a little too much into the last bit of that statement.

“Don’t be too sure.” They chuckle, standing straight once again. “Anyway, do you agree to the terms?”

“...terms being ‘do some work sorta sometimes’, right?”

They laugh. “Yes, that would be correct.”

“then yeah. that’s easy enough.” He sits back on the end of the mattress, expecting them to leave, and falls back, stretching out his arms over his head.

“I am glad we have an agreement. I’ll leave you be for now. Farewell.” They leave the room and walk to their study, mentally celebrating their success. They actually had a pleasant conversation. The experiment is going very well already. 

 

The skeleton doesn’t relax until he can no longer hear their footsteps. His casual grin immediately drops to a scowl and his eye sockets blacken. _ “I’m watching you, kid.”  _ He growls under his breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chara is literally celebrating that they managed to have a convo with Sans that lasted more than ten seconds.  
> Creepy thirsty yandere..
> 
> So! Where do you guys think this is gonna go? Guess correctly (you won't) and win a free...shout out...I guess.


	3. We're Not 'Bonding'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It finally gets through Sans's head that Chara's interest in him is anything but benign.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sORRY to keep you waiting!! Here you go here you go...

Aside from occasionally passing by them in the halls, Sans didn’t see much of Chara until a few days later. He was up a little later than usual, resting in his own quiet corner in the library and working on a crossword puzzle book that Papyrus had gotten him (in spite of it ‘not being nearly as much of a challenge as junior jumble’). It wasn’t every day that Papyrus got him something like this, and so Sans decided to skip work in celebration and just take time to do something relaxing for once. Besides sleeping of course, but that isn’t always very relaxing.

Sleep eluded him often, as nightmares filled his consciousness when he closed his eyes. With the library being so quiet (mostly because it’s supposed to be closed for the day) it’s the perfect place for him to forget about his uncomfortable situation and just let his mind drift for a while.

“Good evening Sans. Has all that napping prevented you from sleeping on time?”

Immediately he stiffens at the sound of their voice, but he casually rolls back his shoulders and relaxes it away, “kinda. how’re you, Majesty?” He asks to be polite. He doesn’t  _ care _ how this shitroll is doing he just has to keep up his manners to avoid looking suspicious.

“Quite well. I rather enjoy the castle in the evenings, when most are asleep. It is rather relaxing.”

“mhm. nice and quiet.”

_ ‘take a hint.’ _

They sit next to him at the table. “So, why the library?”

He gives a shrug, “it’s empty.”

_ ‘hint. hint.’  _

“So are the gardens. I prefer the gardens some nights, Sometimes you can get a breath of fresh air from the opening where the sun shines through.”

Sans withholds a sigh, leaning back in his chair and putting his legs up on the table, “yeah? i’ll try it sometime.”

They smile. “So, how do you like it here in the castle?”

“not as bad as i thought it’d be.” Sans admits, “kinda crowded, but i’ve already got my safe spots.”

They raise an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

“yep. something i have with every job i’ve got. a skeleton’s gotta have his private space. and alone time.”

They nod. “I find the same solace in my study. Small and cluttered it may be, but it feels more secure that way.”

“familiar messes, right?”

“Precisely.” They say with a light chuckle.

“mhm.” Sans tries to make it obvious that he’s focusing really hard on his puzzles, rather than making it obvious that he’s focusing really hard on ignoring them.

“Is that a puzzle book? What kind of puzzle?” They ask, leaning forward to see.

“crosswords.” 

_ ‘ _ **_leave_ ** _.’ _

Chara nods. “I prefer Sudoku myself, but to each their own right?” They chuckle once more.

“mmmmmmhm.”

“If you want, I can show you the things I like most about the gardens at night.”

“that’s alright, i know you’re pretty busy mosta the time, runnin’ the Underground and everything...”

“I have nothing else to do this time of night. My duties sleep as darkness falls. I can assure that you will not be imposing.”

Sans closes one eye, “...i dunno, i’m pretty comf-”

“I  _ insist _ .” Chara suddenly takes his arm, pulling him to his feet and leading him to the garden.

Sans stumbles after, blinking and allowing himself a scowl at their turned back, “well when you put it  _ that  _ way...how can i refuse…”

 

They lead him to the gardens, and they let go of him when they arrive. They stay silent for a bit, simply enjoying the peace. Sans takes back his arm the moment he’s allowed, brushing off the sleeve where they’d touched it as if trying to get rid of the ghosts of the dust that has coated their palms before.

“Asriel and I used to play here as kids. Occasionally I would convince him to sneak out here with me. This was when the thrones were stationed here for mom and dad.” They say quietly, sitting down into the flowers, smiling. “We would always play on the thrones, and Asriel would always be the first to fall asleep.” They add with a chuckle.

Sans shifts uncomfortably on his feet, glancing around and rubbing the back of his skull. He hasn’t seen them be this...open, before, and isn’t sure how to react. He’s half-tempted to quiz them over Asriel’s death until they crack, but he refrains.

Instead he just takes a half step back, glancing up at the ceiling and saying nothing.

“He really knew how to look out for me, Just because he was presumably a year older.” They chuckle again, then fall silent, staring at the cavern ceiling.

Rolling his eyes, Sans taps one foot gently on the ground, “..yeah, it, uh...it’s real nice in here, Majesty…”

“How about you?”

“Huh?”

“What is your favorite memory with your brother?”

“...kinda personal...”

“A random one then.” They say, laying back.

“...well...he tried to grow flowers one time. it was back in Snowdin, so, uh..it didn't go too well…” What are they  _ doing _ why is this conversation still happening... 

They laugh. “I can assume so. Snowdin has very rare natural flowers because of the cold. What kind of flowers did he try to grow?”

Sans shrugs, “dunno. they never actually grew, and i’m not even sure where he got the seeds.”

“What is  _ your _ favorite place in the Underground?” They ask, sitting up to look at him.

“that’s a secret.” Sans says, briefly raising a finger before slipping his hands back in his pockets, “i don’t go there to get visitors, y’know?”

“Fair enough.” they say simply, looking at the cavern ceiling a while longer. After a few moments of silence, Chara speaks up once more. “There are times when I expect to see him, either in a bed across the room, or barging into my study. Those are the times I really start to miss him.” They gain a wistful look in their eyes.

Sans has no sympathy for them. They're the one that killed Asriel. And it's not the first time either. Anytime they want they can RESET to an earlier SAVE point and he'll be alive again. He's only dead because Chara hates having a conscience.

“it's a shame what happened to him.” Sans says.

“At least he passed in his sleep. He didn’t suffer.” They say, closing their eyes.

“was he sick?”

“Nobody knew, he was fine one day, and dust in the morning. Some say he simply fell down in the night.”

“...shame. i’m, uh...gonna head back now, i think…”

“Very well.” They say, getting up, walking ahead a few paces before turning back with a smile. “Are you coming along?”

“...i meant to bed, not the library.” Sans clarifies.

“I know. Allow me to escort you?” They ask as they hold out their hand.

Sans steps past them, pretending to not have seen their offered palm and walking at a slightly faster pace than normal, “i can’t really stop you. so i won’t.”

They stand confused for a moment, before putting their hand down, and walking after him.

“It must be strange for you to live somewhere new. I have lived in this castle for as long as I care to remember. Are you adjusting well?”

Sans shrugs. “bed is cozy. Paps is right next door. works for me.”

“I am glad to hear you are comfortable.”

“mmhm.” Sans makes no effort for polite conversation on the way back, although Chara tries to prompt him. He gives one word responses, or just shrugs. It seems like forever until they arrive at his suite, “welp. thanks for the help, Prinx. don’t know if i’d’ve made it without ya.”

To his surprise, they lean forward and kiss his cheek. “Would you like company?”

Sans’s back slams itself against the door to his room. “excuseme _ what _ ?”

A look of confusion adorns their face. “Was that too forward?” Chara mentally curses themselves. While true that all the monsters had their own speed, a majority were charmed by this point.

“let’s both pretend that never happened alright? great super good  _ night _ , Prinx.” Sans quickly slips inside his room, shutting the door and locking it. He braces his back against it, eyes wide. Oh no. Oh no oh no oh  _ no _ ...that did not just happen that  _ can’t _ be the reason that Chara…

...fuck...

Chara looks blankly at the closed door, before turning and walking back towards their study. Maybe he’s playing hard to get?

 

Sans teleports to his lab, putting his face in his hands and shaking his head. He looks up, breathing out slowly and forcing himself to calm down. This tiny little room hidden off to the side of his bedroom is his only real safe place left. That thought both comforts and scares him at the same time.

He grabs a worn journal from the desk and slides to his seat against the opposite wall, pulling the pen out of the bindings and flipping open to a clean page. Everything secured in this room is immune to RESETS, and so he has entries from every timeline that Chara has pursued. Most of them are unpleasant. Lately he hasn’t been writing too much, as it’s just been the same thing again and again - death or not death, basically.

_ This _ , however...definitely new. Very new and very disturbing.

 

_ RESET # i don’t know 304th? _

_ i knew somethin was up the moment chara assigned paps and i to positions at the castle. it’s not the first time they’ve immediately recruited my bro to the royal guard but it’s the first time i’ve been dragged along. i didn’t know why at first but now i do and almost wish i didn’t. _

_ ….i hate having to actually write this out but i’m  _ _ pretty sure _ _ that chara is trying to. uh. seduce me? _

_ unless i’m reading too much into a kiss on the check and an offer of ‘company’ right outside my bedroom but hey maybe that’s just how they say goodnight to everybody right? < that was a joke. a really bad one. _

_ i don’t know what to do about this. i shut them down of course but i really doubt that that is gonna be the last of their attempts to...woo me or whatever. this is so fuckin weird and messed up i’ve never even had a relationship before. knowin about the RESETS, why  _ would _ i want to try and be romantic? hell, i could get married to someone and (somehow) have three kids and then wake up never having even spoken to them, and with all my family unattached or just nonexistent. _

_ didn’t mean to go off on a tangent there. sorry sans. you can just cross that out later. my point is that i’ve got no fuckin clue how to react to any of this kinda thing and i feel like that’s gonna put me in a bad position somehow. hopefully slamming the door in their face is an understandable way of saying ‘back the hell off’. _

_ i gotta get to bed now. but fuck this. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is slow going so far but patience! Little bit more confrontation in the next chapter I PROMISE.


	4. What's Subtlety?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara tries a bit of a more aggressive approach this time.  
> After all, they can always just reload, and Sans will be none the wiser.  
> (Yes he will)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda short but better than nothing, right?  
> Finally somethin' a liiilllll more intense. Not that much but a little.

Over the course the next few days, Chara has gone out of their way to make small talk with him. Or exchange greetings whenever they are too busy to stop. Occasionally assigning a small stack of paperwork that is easily finished within the hour, and they always send Papyrus in Sans’s direction, to keep their cover story in place. 

With the increase in Chara’s efforts to be around him, however, Sans increased his efforts to avoid them as much as possible. He was with Papyrus a lot of the time, and it was impossible to stay hidden with his brother being as loud as he was, but at least it wasn’t one-on-one time. When his brother was busy training, though, Sans slipped away into the shadows. He’d managed to keep hidden from Undyne to avoid work back in Snowdin, and as he became more and more familiar with the layout of the castle, he became better and better at hiding, even without shortcuts. It was pretty amusing to see the look of frustration on Chara’s face when he let them see him go into his room for the night after an entire day wasted hunting for him, but it’s getting to the point where it’s somewhat scary.

As fun as it is to piss the brat off, he doesn’t want to inadvertently dig himself a hole that he might trip into. He’s still recovering from the last timeline, waking up from nightmares and going in at random hours to check on his brother. It leaves him genuinely tired during the day, not just lazy.

 

Inevitably, he is going to slip up. And that day is today.

 

He’s weary from wandering around so much - Chara is being particularly persistent today, and they now know that  _ he  _ knows that they are trying to get him alone, so they have abandoned all attempts at subtlety. They’ve become borderline relentless. Seeing them storm down the hall with their stupid cape fluttering behind them as they once again fail to catch him is becoming less hilarious and more concerning each time.

Panting a bit from his latest escape (he had actually resorted to sprinting for a moment this time), Sans reaches a dead end hallway and leans against the corner, sliding to his seat. Just a moment to catch his breath is all he needs. His eyes close and his head lolls back. Just one moment to catch-....

And he’s asleep.

 

“Sans? I must say that if your own bed is unsatisfactory, I can make arrangements to have it replaced.”

The skeleton jolts awake at the sound of that voice, immediately trying to scramble to his feet, but his slippers (unshockingly) slip on the smooth tile floor and he falls back to his seat. “ow.”  He mumbles, wincing and trying to ignore that little blow to his dignity. “nope, just takin’ a breather-”

“It looks as if you need help. Here.” Fuck subtlety. Let’s try the direct approach. They grab his wrists, and pull him up, but instead of to his feet, they bring him up to their eye level, smirking. “It seems as if I have swept you off your feet~”

His legs flail for a moment as his toes try to find the ground, but it’s too far away for him to reach. He tightens his fists, gritting his teeth and glaring at them.

“haha. put me down.”

Chara leans their face closer to his. “And let you get away so easy?~”

Sans’s cheeks start to glow blue against his will,  _ “ _ _ Put me down.” _

Chara smirks at his blush. “Oh, but you seem to be enjoying yourself~” They say as they comply to his request.

“what the fuck is your deal with me, you  _ royal _ pain in the ass?” Sans growls, ignoring their remark and roughly straightening his jacket out.

“Surely I have made it clear - I have found myself to be smitten.” Their words say one thing, their eyes another; amusement. They have never gotten him to blush before. This is a very good day.

Sans gives a disgusted scowl, backing himself up as far away from Chara as he can with the human trapping him against the corner, “i’m pretty sure i’ve made it clear that i like my personal space,  _ pal _ .” His tone indicates that he thinks of them as anything but a friend.

They sigh, then back up. “My apologies. I guess I came on a bit too strong.”

“i’m more upset by the fact that you can’t take a hint.” Sans mutters under his breath, curling up his fists and then relaxing them, “yeah. well let me save you some time - whatever it is you’re tryin’ to ask for here, my answer is no.”

“Why no?” They as, leaning on the wall.They had done the things monsters have swooned over. They need to find out what they are doing wrong.

“i’m not interested in...anything like that, right now.” Sans pushes off from the wall, walking away and putting his hands in his pockets. 

“I see, well, have a good day.” They rest against the wall for a moment, before their frustration gets the better of them. They make a SAVE point, then they reach out and grab Sans wrist. “Wait.”

He quickly tries to yank himself free, tensing up, “nope.”

They hold fast. “You don’t even want to try? Or give me a chance?”

Sans lets out a quick breath, “let me go, Chara.”

They pull him closer to them. “I can assure you, you will not regret it~”

He tightens his jaw, “i’m not in the mood.”

“You can be.” They whisper into his ear.

He shoves them back, alarms going off in his head, “i said no.”

Despite being shoved back, they continue to hold onto his wrist. “Some other time then?”

Sans looks over his shoulder, looking for  _ someone _ , anyone, to stroll past and interrupt this. He clenches his fists, turning back to watch them carefully, “...you, uh...don't take rejection very well, huh?”

They stay silent for a moment, before letting go of his wrist. “Fine, but do know I do not give up easily.” They wink, and start walking down the hallway, smirking.

“SANS? YOUR MAJESTY..?” Papyrus is suddenly just  _ there,  _ like he'd been waiting around the corner, “IS SOMETHING WRONG?”

“Not at all Papyrus.” They say, smiling, and fixing to walk past him.

Papyrus takes Sans’s wrist when he sees his older brother rubbing at it, “...YOU'RE BRUISED..”

Sans glances at his wrist as well, “huh. no surprise i guess…”

Papyrus spins around to look at Chara's back as they walk away, “WHY DID YOU HURT MY BROTHER?!”

They turn around, surprised at the unexpected confrontation. “Well, I certainly did not intend to.” They turn to Sans. “Are you alright?”

Papyrus steps in front of Sans, summoning a flaming bone in his hand and holding it out protectively to keep Chara from getting closer to Sans, “STAY AWAY FROM HIM!”

“geez Paps, it's just a bruise, calm down…” Sans grips Papyrus’s arm from behind, “it's fine i’m fine…”

_ ‘you can't fight them Papyrus they're too strong i’ve seen them kill you too many times don't make me watch  _ again _ please just calm down… _ ’

“YOU'RE NOT FINE! THEY HURT YOU!”

“I assure you Papyrus, I have no ill intentions towards your brother. Quite the opposite actually.”

Papyrus feels Sans give a shudder and narrows his eyes, “YOU'RE NOT COMING NEAR HIM AGAIN, MAJESTY!”

Well shit. Last thing they need is a disapproving brother.

“I-I must admit I had gotten a little carried away. I meant no ill intentions, honest.” They hadn’t really planned on being caught. If this escalates then they might just reload to their last save point.

Papyrus isn’t thinking straight. He summons up an attack, teeth grit in anger.  _ “DON’T LIE TO ME, YOUR MAJESTY!” _

Shit shit shit shit  _ shit shit shit shit-  _ “ _ Paps no!”  _ Sans scrambles forward, pushing his brother back. He feels something sharp hit him between the shoulder blades, and his HP drops to 0.

Oh. Right...Chara  _ would _ take their turn, wouldn’t they…?

Sans bites his teeth and collapses forward into Papyrus’s arms,  “h-heh...dirty  _ b-backstabber _ …”

Well great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PS: To anyone who wants to write a oneshot, we both say OMG YES PLEASE DO. Also fanart too. Seriously, u will make our day. -Sammykh


	5. Reevaluate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans and Chara are surprisingly similar in some of their habits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah it's short FITE me

Sans finds himself back in the hallway, Chara leaning on the wall, and he a few paces forward. His eyes widen and he stumbles just a bit, disoriented. This is why he prefers to be asleep - so that he isn’t jarred so badly whenever Chara reloads or resets. But he pulls himself together enough to not look suspicious. He keeps walking, head bowing a little as he stares at the ground. He can feel his latest death scar between his shoulder blades. It burns a bit.

“Sans?”

Taking in a deep breath, Sans turns around to look at them, keeping the scared expression off of his face, “yeah?”

They walk closer, and Sans has to force himself to stay still, “I know you’re not interested. But you realize that I am going to keep trying?”

He swallows, “that’d, uh...be a waste of time, quite frankly. you should probably put that effort into, i dunno...running a kingdom..?”

“I have plenty of free time.” Plus it helps that they have done the paperwork many times before.

“that’s most likely a sign that you’re doin’ something wrong.” Sans turns around and walks away, keeping his fingers crossed inside his pocket.

 

Chara watches as he leaves, mulling over the events in their mind. They need a better idea of what makes him tick, but that will have to wait. They have one last plan in mind before they go drastic.

 

The moment he’s out of the Prinx’s sights he starts running, skidding to a stop at the hall where the right wing corridor starts to connect to the more populated areas of the castle. He braces his hands on his knees, catching his breath.

….he needs new hiding places.

 

Once he is gone, Chara walks down to their study to make a few notes. They aren’t sure where they got their notebook, but it never gets erased from the reloads. They have vague memories of past timelines, but they are faded and unreliable. Still, they are thankful that they didn't have to rewrite their timeline notes over and over. 

They contemplate what to do next. They will have to lower their intensity a bit. Casual flirting around others might make him a bit more comfortable. They just can’t understand his constant animosity towards them. Well, they will know someday. Now, they have an experiment to continue.

 

Fucking little  _ creep _ (that is still bigger than him by about an entire foot)...Sans shudders and grimaces at the floor as he walks back towards the main area of the castle, to a populated place where even Chara wouldn’t attempt a move like that again. At least with them pulling a stunt that extreme, he has an excuse to skip work, instead of none at all. A trip to Grillby’s sounds nice.

After a few ketchup bottles and an order of fries from his favorite bar, Sans has calmed down enough to head home. His  _ real _ home, though, in Snowdin. As much as it pains him to do so, he has to keep his journal up to date on this one. He short-cuts up to his room, unlocking his lab door and stepping in.

He pulls open the drawer containing the notebook and sits down on the floor. He hadn’t had a chance to write down what had happened last time, as he was promptly killed, and so is taking the time now to document it. He’s not fond of the idea of living over those unpleasant moments in his head, but a development like this has to be kept track of.

 

_ RESET #potentially 304th or 893rd continuation _

_ royal brat has turned royal creep. avoid isolated areas. _

 

He was going to leave it at that, but decides he should probably leave more description. His memory of previous RESETs only holds on for a few days, and he has to get this down.

 

_ said they’re ‘not giving up’. that’s one way to win over the person you’re stalking, for sure. goddamn  _ freak _...they never know when to give up. _

_...that being said, i gotta admit...i’ve been thinking about just, y’know...giving ‘em what they want. probably just one or two dates and then... _ whatever _ , and they’d leave me alone. but every time i try and picture myself so much as holding hands with them i just wanna puke, which i really wish i could do sometimes. i’ve watched them murder Papyrus and my friends countless times, not to mention  _ torture _ them...that sick, sick look in their eyes when listening to the screams of innocents...that goddamn  _ laugh _ every time they heard a plea for MERCY...no. i can’t. maybe it’s pathetic of me but i just  _ can’t _ do it. i’d have a PTSD attack and they’d wonder what the hell was going on and well...then it’s game over. probably literally. ha... _

_ i gotta just stick this out. they’ll get frustrated, yeah, but i’m just gonna have to deal with it, and so are they. _

 

_ Timeline #898 _

_ In regards to my latest project, Sans -  _

_ Despite my efforts, the skeleton continues to be disinterested. Even after “Opening up” he was not charmed in the slightest. Thousands of monsters in the underground, and he is the only one who is disinterested. Not even my status, which many monsters latched onto. I need to figure out what he likes. _

_ My birthday is coming up soon, and I have a plan.  _

_ In the meantime, I guess I should just back off a bit,try to woo him a bit more slowly. Public affection might work in my favor as well. Peer pressure is a thing after all.  _

_ This is proving to be a much needed challenge. Below will be the notes I take once I get him to myself. For now however, it is time to wait. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus: Sam was having trouble finding inspiration for Chara's journal entry so this was my rough draft that I compiled for her.  
> Enjoy my beautiful writing.
> 
> So im irresistable but this skeleton guy is being a real hard to get asshole  
> (hahahah i made a sex joke)  
> Honestly ive tried everything but he just doesnt seem to like me wtf?? How can he im so perfect and attractivelike he’s not even attractive hes a sKELTON why should anyone like him he should be grateful  
> Okay well between me and me im kida a little attracted to him bc hes sorta charming in that ‘i can't have it’ way so now obv i have to have him so i can forget about him  
> Ty 4 listening buh bye


	6. Party of Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara gets a little impatient, and Sans cleans up nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Formal wear Sans is adorable.  
> Wish I could post a draw of what he looks like, but I'm lazy.  
> Just like...slacks, a nice brown vest, a white dress shirt and some old dress shoes. Nothin' too fancy.

Another week passes. Chara has taken to publicly flirting, sometimes with puns, and sometimes with suggestive comments. Then, their birthday arrives. They always host a grand feast because it’s what's expected of them. In some resets they didn’t bother, mostly because everyone would be dead by then, or too hopeless to feel like celebrating, but this was a happier timeline, so that meant a party. They have lost count of how many times they have turned 23. They always had the option to set a new RESET point, but they weren’t ready for that yet. 

Naturally everyone in the castle staff was invited, and a few of the upperclass monsters. However, Chara had a different plan than usual for tonight. Tonight, they are determined to succeed.

 

“ugh, Paps, i  _ really _ don’t wanna go to this thing.” Sans groans as Papyrus fussily finishes brushing out wrinkles in his vest for him, “i can think of at least fifty other things i’d rather go to, and the top ten are funerals and magma pits.”

“SANS! DON’T BE RUDE! WE  _ MUST _ GO TO THIS PARTY! WE’VE BEEN INVITED! AND HOW OFTEN DOES THE PRINX TURN TWENTY-THREE?!”

“every other weekend.” Sans grumbles under his breath, idly running his thumb over the collar of his dress shirt.

“WHAT WAS THAT?”

“nothin’. look, i’ll show up for ten minutes, eat some food and chat a bit, but then i’m leaving.” Sans huffs.

Papyrus frowns at him,  “SANS YOU ARE BEING UNUSUALLY GRUMPY. I WOULD THINK THAT YOU’D BE HAPPY TO GO! ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THE GUEST OF HONOR. NYEHEHEH.”

_“no.”_ Sans brushes Papyrus’s hands off of him, “gah, bro, it’s smoothed out, alright? can we just get this over with?”

“SUDDENLY EAGER TO BE OFF, I SEE!”

“ _stop.”_ Sans groans, putting his face in his hands as he shuffles out the door behind his much more impressively dressed brother. He’s tall enough. Maybe he can hide behind him the entire time.

He keeps his hands shoved into his pockets as they arrive in the main ballroom. Sans squints at the bright lighting and the loud chatter and music, immediately shuffling off to the side. But Papyrus grabs his arm and drags him forward. Sans groans like a whining toddler the entire time he’s pulled along, almost not even moving his feet.

“UGH! SANS, YOU CAN SULK LATER! AT LEAST SAY HELLO TO THEIR HIGHNESS FIRST!”

“or last. or never. how about that.”

“UGH.”  Papyrus echoes, shaking his head at his brother. He comes to a halt and salutes Chara as they turn to him,  “HELLO YOUR MAJESTY! IT IS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HERE TO ATTEND THE PARTY THAT I WAS INVITED TO!”

As much as he hates the fact that any of this is happening at all, Sans admits that it was kinda fun watching Papyrus react to being invited to a big social event like this. He was practically squealing. It was possible to hear over Sans’s groaning, even. Which was impressive.

Chara grinned, and waved. “Glad you two could make it! Do enjoy yourselves” There was no mistaking who the follow up wink was for. 

“yeah, planning on it.”  Sans grumbled in reply, spotting a champagne fountain and immediately pointing his feet in its direction.  “bye.”

_“SANS DON’T GET DRUNK!”_ Papyrus yells loudly enough for everyone in the room to hear. Sans ducks and puts a hand over his face, shaking his head.

 

They let the party go on for a bit, letting the guests get lost in the party before beginning their search for Sans. They spot him by the champagne table, and they create a SAVE point. Then, they head over. “Hey Sans, how are you holding up?” They ask, taking a glass for themselves.

Sans immediately fumbles to hide away several empty glasses behind the fountain,  “wow heavy drinking crowd.”  He mutters quickly under his breath before turning around to face Chara. He grins and gives a slow wink.  “hhhey, there. happy birthday, highness. big day huh..?”

“Oh definitely~ Say, wanna break from the crowd and chat for a while?” Their hand reaches for his.

He doesn’t move his hand, but one eye narrows. Something about their offer is suspicious but he can’t put a drunk finger on it.  “why’s is...why’s you’d wanna do that, huh?”

Chara giggles. “I’m sure you know~” They begin to lead him from the ballroom into the hallway, a few party goers giving knowing looks and winks at each other.

Sans is mumbling the whole way, trying to form sentences in his head that can come out his mouth properly. Finally he responds to their statement.  “i’m...preeeetty sure i’d..i know, why, but...it’s not…” He taps his skull and shuts his eyes, frowning,  “not comin’ to me.” He stops and looks around at the dark hallway. The party is just distant noise in the background.  “...somethin’s...here’s not...not right..”  He mutters, pulling his hand free and taking a shaky step backwards.

“What's wrong Sansy?” Chara smirks. “You are sounding a little drunk.” They grab his hand once again.

The skeleton stumbles back forward, his vision spinning a bit,  “that wasn’t not...not more than a...seven glass which is...3 ounces and that’s...only a... _ less than.. _ than two percent of a gallon, ssso…” He stops, shutting one eye and giving a confused look,  “.....i was goin’ somewhere with that..”

“I see, well. It’s obvious you are too drunk to function properly.” They say, a disappointed look on their face. “I guess I’ll wait until you are a little more sober.”

Sans mumbles some sort of vague protest as Chara takes his arm and pulls him away from the rest of the party. He ends up slumping against them, eyes rolling back before he blacks out.

 

He wakes up in Chara’s room. 

Next to Chara.

“Good morning, and before you ask, no, nothing happened. You were a little too drunk for that.” They say, amused. “Now that you are sober I can properly ask if you are up for it?”

Sans sits up, holding his head and staring ahead at the end of the bed (which seems very far away to him and his short legs). He considers panicking and just screaming. He considers making an abrupt sprint for the door. He considers just killing them right there and then. But as tempting as all those options are, Sans forces himself into composure and decides that just talking is the best route to go for here.

“....look, your Majesty, uh...all this...attention is really, uh, flattering, and everything, but...this is kinda crossing a line..” ‘A’ line because Chara had already crossed too many for there to be only one.

“Oh really? How so?”

“you brought my unconscious body into your bedroom, for one..?”

“Nothing happened.”

“yeah, but...why didn’t you take me back to, i dunno,  _ my  _ room? does Papyrus know where i am? does…” He feels himself pale a bit, “...does  _ anyone _ know where i am?”

”Of course. He knows you are with me.” They say with a grin.

“Papyrus wouldn’t have let anybody take me away after i’ve had a drink. you’re lying, and so that’s reason number two…” He’s growing nervous.

“Nothing happened.” They repeat. “But it still can~” They say, resting a hand on his arm.

Sans jerks it away, “i’d really prefer that it didn’t..”

Chara gives a frustrated noise.. “Well why not? What am I doing wrong? ” A desperate tactic, but it worked when they first started filling out their list, so it never hurts, and if it does, well, they can just try again.

“you really need to stop...trying to look at me like i’m some sorta..checklist, okay? there’s not...there’s no correct combination or permutation of things to do or say that’s gonna just...sweep me off my feet, or whatever…” Sans slowly scoots off the bed, dress shoes hitting smartly against the wood panels, “...i’m just...i’m really just not interested…” He edges towards the door.

They grab his arm. “But why?”

Okay panic eminent. “Ch...Chara, let me go…” His voice shakes a bit.

“Why won’t you answer me?”

“i’m just not interested, alright? i don’t...don’t really get why that’s so hard for you to grasp..” They’re getting  _ frustrated  _ oh shit oh  _ shit _ ...his fingers lock around the door handle and he pulls.

They pull him towards them and the door slams shut.

“What is your issue with me?” They ask, searching his expression.

Most of what they find is fear, “w-well... _ this  _ kinda behavior, is, uh...a pretty big factor…” He winces as their grip on his arm gets a little tight, crinkling up the neatly ironed fabric of his dress shirt.

“Even before I cornered you in the hallway you acted like this. What is it? Some prejudice?”

“wh..what? no, i...i j-just don’t feel the same way, your Majesty, alright? can...can i just please get back to my brother now? he’s gotta be worried about me…”

“Do not worry, he will understand.” Their voice takes on a new tone, one he doesn’t like.

“let me go.” He says again, more forcefully as he fights to pull his arm free.

“Looks like we are doing this the hard way.” They say with a sigh and a fake front, before grinning, and placing their free hand on his head, knocking him out with their magic before he can react.

Sans’s last conscious thought is concise:

_ ‘shit.’ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, here we go~


	7. A Lot of Full Empty Pages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A pretty narrow escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay nothing too scandalous here (he IS a skeleton) but it should please you I hope. Hehehehe..83

Sans groans, rolling onto his back and feeling his wrists stop short. He opens one eye and sits up, noting the red chains pinning him to the floor by his hands and ankles. There’s not much leash given, and he can’t really move aside from switching from lying down to sitting. Kneeling is what feels best for his cramped legs at the moment, however, so he sticks with that. He doesn’t have to guess as to where he is...he’s far too familiar with the secret dungeon that Chara has hidden away, brought out only during their violent runs.

He notes the absence of a magic restriction collar. Heh. Chara has no idea that he has much of any magic to speak of. It’s hilarious how they act like they are so knowledgeable when they don’t actually know much of anything about Sans. Seeing it in that light, he supposes it was only a matter of time before they started focusing on him a little too much.

Sighing, Sans shifts back a bit, resting against the wall and closing his eyes as he waits for Chara to inevitably arrive. So they’re going to torture a ‘reason for rejection’ out of him...he can probably think up a good one to give them...not good enough to keep them from bothering him ever again, but at least to give him a little space.

“Good evening sleepyhead~” Chara enters the room with a notebook and a pen. “How are you feeling?”

“slightly ‘rattled’...” He shrugs one arm and holds up a hand, clinking the chain links together and gesturing to the bars around him,  “a little ‘cagey’..”

Chara laughs. “Glad to see you in good spirits.  It'll be more fun to break you if you start out strong." They set their notebook to a blank page nearby, and they approach Sans.

He stays relaxed,  “some torture notes, huh?”

“You could say that. More like a field journal about anything that happens to be interesting.”

“well that doesn’t explain why it’s here. you’ve probably tortured a lot of people. are you expecting something new? spoiler - i turn to dust at the end just like everyone else.”

“You misunderstand, I’m hear to learn about  _ you _ . Everybody is different, after all.“ 

“that’s gonna be one empty journal.”

“Is that so?”

“i’m a closed book fulla blank pages, kid. you’re not gonna find anythin’ interesting about me.” He shrugs.  “‘cause it ain’t there.”

“You are so down on yourself.” Chara caresses his cheek. “You would be surprised.”

Sans scowls at them, but doesn’t jerk his head away. He acts otherwise unphased.  “i know more about myself than you, just trust me on this.”

“I have all the time in the world to find out everything I want to know~”

“this is gonna be a really boring eternity, then.”

“Hmmm, where should I start?” They ask themselves, contemplating, then they push their fingers against his vest. “I’ll start with the ribcage~”

Sans tries not to squirm, letting out a focused breath evenly,  “you’re kinda  _ ribbing  _ me the wrong way here, pal.”

“Why do you say that?” They ask as they gently trace their finger along the bones on his ribcage.

He gives a muffled grunt, narrowing his eyes and idly tapping a finger against the floor,  “because that was too good of an opportunity to pass up.”

“I see. Now, was that a reaction of pain or pleasure?”

“pain because my joke didn’t even get a giggle.”

“Hmm, well I guess if you are not going to give me honest answers then you will have to be here longer.” They continue tracing their finger, but with added pressure, and trailing all over.

Sans squeezes his eyes shut, taking in a shaky breath as he tries to get control of...whatever it is that he’s feeling. He’s been tortured through a lot of RESETs, several times by Chara, and so he figures that he can handle it.  _ This _ sort of touch though...no, never before in his life. And he isn’t quite sure how to react beyond letting out a huff of air. 

Then, Chara uses all five of their fingers to trace along his ribs.

The skeleton lurches a bit, arching his back for a moment,  _ “khff.. _ h-ha, okay…”  He pulls away,  “that, uh...that tickles, so...kinda ruinin’ the atmosphere of danger…”

Chara takes out their pen, picking up the notebook, and reads what they are writing aloud. “Tracing my fingers along his ribs gave me signs of pleasure, as indicated by his back arching.” They put their book down, smirking. “So much for an empty page eh Sans?”

He huffs out a laugh, trying to hide his growing panic,  “i didn’t think it was that interestin’.”  He didn’t think it would be  _ this _ sort of...he hadn’t thought that they’d do this. Chara stooped pretty low, but he’s never seen them do anything...anything like  _ this _ ...

“I beg to differ Sans, I found it fascinating. You are more sensitive than your brother~” They start to pull at the buttons on his vest. “Now come on and be a good sport-”

He stubbornly pushes their hands away, sitting forward and gritting his teeth,  _ “What the fuck did you just say about Papyrus?!” _

“Ooo, another reaction, but I already know that you are sensitive about your brother~ See, you won't remember this at all, but I have a special power. It doesn't matter to me whether you believe me or not, but I can RESET time. I have killed your brother countless times, and nobody ever remembers. I have killed everyone. I have had sexual relations with everyone, I had been the best ruler in the world, and the worst. Fascinating, no?”

Sans’s eyes widen in shock. Not because he didn’t already know (except the ‘sexual relations’ part, ugh), but because this was the first time Chara had told him.  “...wh..wh-what the fuck are you talking about…”

“Well, I call it resetting, but whatever. Think of it like a video game, when you die you can go back to a previous save or start over completely. Well, I have gotten more control of it than that simply, but it’s the basic idea. Anyway, I digress.” They start to slowly unbutton his vest, taking joy in the uncomfortable squirming this gets out of him. 

Sans shoves them back, “g-get the  _ fuck _ off of me you sick little  _ shit-” _

Chara falls over slightly, but quickly regains their balance. “Ooo, feisty~” They tease as they wave their hand. Suddenly his hands are hanging above his head, and his toes are barely touching the floor. “This seems a bit easier to deal with~”

Sans gives a grunt as his back slams against the wall,  “what else have you done, huh? a person like you would abuse power in every way, isn't that right?!” This is hell, but it's also a golden opportunity to try and get Chara to spill some answers to his many questions. 

“Naturally. The question is what haven’t I done? And the answer is you. Once I know what makes you tick, I will have a lot more fun~” They start unbuttoning his vest again.

He starts thrashing and squirming against the chains as the article drops to the floor, removing another thin layer of protection, breathing getting heavy,  “that isn't gonna happen! if you RESET a million times i would  _ never _ -”

“So you say, but you won't remember a thing, I always win over even the most resilient~” They start undoing his shirt next, smirking.

Sans’s glare is losing strength as his fighting is useless. He gives a groan as he realizes that he has no choice but to suffer through until Chara is satisfied with the knowledge they've garnered.

“Now, back to business.” They say as they part his shirt to the side, trace both hands along his exposed ribcage.

Sans tenses, curling his bony fingers into fists and holding his breath, as if that would help. Chara's fingers graze every inch, and it's driving him just a little bit crazy. He feels his face heating up, and he draws his knees in, legs lifting slightly as he tries to escape the source of...well, discomfort wasn't exactly the right word. Chara's thumbs suddenly trace down his sternum, applying pressure to the center of his chest.

“ghh..! hnn…” He tenses his throat immediately, putting a stop to the unwanted sounds. His shoulders pull up and he shivers, biting his teeth. He thought he'd be able to handle whatever torture Chara was able to dish out but  _ this.. _ it's as though his entire body is rebelling against him.

Knowing that Chara is far from done with him makes his SOUL shudder, and not entirely out of dread. He leans his head back, swallowing and biting down hard on his teeth. His breathing is getting harsher, and the blue in his cheeks is only getting brighter. Sweat rolls down the side of his forehead, a silent protest from his body that wants nothing more than permission to speak, instinctively wanting to inform his partner of the pleasure he's feeling at their touch and unable to understand that  _ he _ doesn’t want...whatever the fuck this is...

But Sans is determined not to let Chara hear another sound from him. He exhaustedly wonders how long he can keep that up. 

Chara grins at his muffled noises. Hopefully soon those noises won’t be muffled anymore. They pause their fun to write their findings. Things are going way better than they’d hoped. Sans is quickly turning to putty in their hands and they have only just begun. Once they finish writing, they begin to play with his sternum a bit more, hoping to get more noises out of him.

“kff..” Sans wheezes, shutting his eyes and breathing harshly through his teeth. He saw the sick, pleased look in their eyes and he doesn’t want to let that happen again. 

“Aww, Sans you don’t have to hide your pleasure from me.” Chara taunts as they stick their hand  _ inside _ his ribcage, and began to trace along the bones with their fingers from the inside.

Sans jolts, drawing his legs up a moment and curling forward, breathing forced,  _ “nngh! hff..hhf...guh..” _

“Hmmm, interesting..” They write more in their notebook, then begin to toy with his sternum from the inside as well.

_ “would you just  _ _ stop it _ ?!” Sans kicks out at them as hard as he can. 

He manages to connect with their hip before he feels a pressure on his legs, and his heels painfully hit the wall, chains locking around his ankles and pinning them back.

“And why should I do that?” They say, absently rubbing their hip. It’s going to bruise, but they have been through worse. It’s easy to ignore.

Sans gives a shout of pain as his heels smack into the hard stone, bones rattling in anger as he glares heatedly at Chara. He just wants to grab them by their sick little SOUL and smash them to bloody pulps against the prison wall. He wants to send a bone right through their skull. There are many ways that he wants to murder them.

“as though a freak like you would listen to reasoning - you don't have any morals, do yah? how am i supposed to explain those to someone who doesn't even know the meaning of MERCY?!” 

“Good point. Morals are for those bound by consequences after all.” They smirk as they trace along the inside of his sternum once more.

_“ghh!”_ Sans shuts his eyes, grabbing onto the chains above his wrists and curling his fingers tightly around the links, chest heaving, “h-heh...you think that _now_ , sure...b-but one of these days...y-you’ll figure it out..” Sans pants, shaking and shivering as Chara's fingers wander, “s-someone...th-they’ll show you...you can't stay...blameless forever...and _trust_ me...you're gonna have regrets!”

“What is regret to someone who can undo any mistake?” They start tracing the outside of his ribcage with one hand, and the inside with the other. “Besides, no one remembers. You won’t remember this ever happening to you. How can someone show me consequences if they have no memory of my actions?”

Sans has no answer. He doesn't know. Even with someone that  _ does  _ have memory of the RESETS (him), well...ever since he realized the timelines keep restarting, he's been going through every possible plan to try and beat Chara for good. He’s definitely powerful enough to kill them. But what does  _ that _ matter? They'd just come back again and again. And they'd kill him eventually, even if it took a million tries.

“...so then what's your plan here, h-huh?” 

“What I have been doing for years. Trial, and error, until there is nothing left but success.” They pause to write more in their notebook.

“s-success, huh? what's that supposed to look like?”

“Knowledge, perfect manipulation... Control I suppose.” They set their notepad down, and observe him, deciding on what to do next.

Sans watches them too, although with much more anxiety. “..so you're trying to control me, huh? h-heh..”  He forces a grin,  “that's hilarious…”

“I’ll admit, there are some exceptions. Your brother for example, he won’t kill any innocemts. You would be proud I’m sure, but see, I have learned to work around exceptions. Papyrus doesn't kill, but he can sure as hell weaken any enemy. Then I simply finish the job. You can’t control someone perfectly, you just have to work around the exceptions. That is true control.”

“h-heh...so that's it, huh? we're all just toys to you..” 

“Is that surprising? We have already established that I am a sociopath.” Their fingers spark slightly as they begin to stroke his sternum again, the added tingle only amplifying what he felt before.

_“ghhah! nngh...hnn..”_ Sans arches his back, begging for this to just be a bad dream, “s-stop it!”

They ignore him, and increase the voltage, the tingle becomes a slight sting.

_ “GGGHHAAHH! HHNGH...no no stop it stop!”  _

Chara is grinning sadistically as they watch Sans writhe. They increase the voltage a little bit more. Sans's eyes widen and he screams, panic building as he feels something forming in his mouth. Quickly he shuts his jaw tightly, shutting his eyes.  _ ‘no no no no no not  _ **_now_ ** _ stop it!’ _

They bring up their other hand, also sparking, to the inside of his ribcage, assaulting him from the inside and out. Sans stubbornly manages to keep his teeth locked together, even though moans are nearly forced out of him. He  _ won't _ let it happen god knows what Chara would do if they saw his tongue. 

“Who knew you were such a masochist Sans.” They mock as they once again increase the voltage. As though this magic is painful and not forcibly pleasuring. Dirty cheater...

Sans is shaking, dropping his chin to his collarbone and not responding.

“Fascinating.” They stop the torture and start writing in their notebook.

_ ‘just give up.’  _ His thoughts whisper.  _ ‘ _ _ they won't stop until they get what they want. the sooner you let them the sooner this nightmare can be over.’  _ Sans shuts his eyes, chin trembling as he goes limp in the chains. Why did he even try...

“Oh Sans, tired already? Tsk tsk.” They run their hands gently over his skull, getting a feel for it, petting and caressing. He lets them. What else can he do? The only thing he can do to help himself is to just speed this fucked up process along by cooperating.

Then they start to pry his mouth open. Sans immediately panics, leaning his head back and shaking it furiously. No no no no nope that wasn’t allowed to happen-

“Open your mouth.” They order, preparing to force it open with their magic if he refuses. He resorts to biting their finger instead when they try again. 

That probably won’t have any negative repercussions whatsoever.

They give a yelp of pain as they reflexively jerk their hand away. They smirk, and suddenly his mouth is open against his will, his jaw wrenched too wide, causing it to ache.

“Ooo, fascinating. Since when do you have a tongue?”

Sans gives a choked cry of pain, tensing up and curling his tongue as far from Chara as possible.

They reach their fingers into his mouth, inspecting his teeth, and running their fingers over them. “Surely this is like a trip to the dentist~” They say, amusement in their voice. Sans gives a grunt and wraps his feet back around the chains on his ankles, curling in his toes and glaring, unable to do anything but watch Chara as their fingers crawl around the inside of his jaw.

They reach for his tongue, forcing it flat. “Made of magic, fascinating.”

Sans makes a choked whine of protest, growling and trying his best to pull his head away. They poke and prod at it, until they try zapping it, starting with a low voltage.

_“AHH!”_ Okay that was just pain. Sans successfully pulls his head out of their hands, “what the fuck is wrong with you?!” 

“Curiosity.” They say simply as they force his head up, getting a better look at his neck, tracing their fingers along his vertebrae. Sans flinches as their nails scrape across the death mark on his throat, flashing back for a moment to that dark morning, up to his knees in snow as that axe-

He shudders, trying to pull himself back into focus. Not that the present reality is much better, of course...

Then they back off, and write more in their notebook. “For someone who said I would have an empty page, you sure are using up a lot of them.” They mock, gauging his reaction.

He ignores them as best he can, considering the circumstances.

They set the notebook down, and with a wave of their hand, his face is suddenly shoved to the wall. The back of his shirt is pushed up to his shoulders, and he can feel their fingers trace along his spine. 

Sans stiffens, shivering at the touch,  “gguh…”

Then he can feel the tingling from the electricity magic.

“nnnhgh!”  Sans’s eyes roll back and he shudders, an unintentional moan escaping him as he pressed his head against the wall.  _ Fuck _ .

“Oh, I  _ finally  _ got a moan out of you. Fascinating. “ The voltage increases.

_ “hhhnn...nngh..mmph..” _ Sans is barely focusing on what’s happening. His mind is swamped with the signals from his body, forcing him to pay attention to the alarmingly intimate sensations. His tongue lolls out again and he pants, eye half-closing as sweat trickles down his brow. His SOUL is beginning to glow brighter.

“Incredible. And here you were saying there was nothing interesting about you.” They turned him to his side, and, while keeping one electrified hand stroking his spine, they bring another to his sternum.

Shit….shit shit  _ shit… _

Sans tries to bring his reasoning to mind, to remind himself just exactly what’s happening and who is doing it to him, but logic is quickly overwhelmed.  “...mmmph..mm...gghh..” He can’t shut up, now.

Chara is relentless, grinning as they watch Sans fall apart at their hand. They love to win after all. His SOUL keeps growing brighter, and he shuts his eyes tightly, shaking and panting heavily.

“Oh wow, your SOUL is bright!” They stop the torture and immediately begin scrawling into their notebook excitedly. They have never seen a SOUL so easily exposed.

This is quickly reaching the maximum level of nope. Sans opens up his eyes and slams his jaw shut, pulling himself together more easily. It helps to not have those filthy hands on him. He considers his options, which were few.

Teleporting is out of the question. Chara would definitely see that and pursue answers relentlessly. Possibly through a situation that would involve hidden laboratories and a lot of endless pain. He can't use a bone attack, they would suspect Papyrus and they are  _ not  _ allowed to devote any interest to him.

A Gaster Blaster, however...Papyrus doesn't have those. He doesn’t even know they exist. Chara could run around madly for weeks trying to find their assassin without ever suspecting the harmless, weak little skeleton that they thought was in front of him. If the situation were different and he was being tortured with  _ pain _ , he never would even consider it. But this is getting far, far too close to...he doesn’t know, actually. He just knows that it’s bad and it  _ can’t  _ happen.

An off guard attack rarely fails to kill.

Sans takes in a sudden breath, opening only his right eye and starting to stammer ‘ Ch-Chara..! ’. Before they can fully turn to see the danger, the blast takes both Chara and Sans and turns them to dust. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tonge


	8. Nnnope.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nope nope nope nope nope nope nope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which Papyrus is a good little brother, Chara remains clueless as to why Sans is still resisting them, and Sans just wants to go to sleep.

Chara is suddenly standing in the middle of the party crowd. 

What the  _ fuck  _ happened? They didn’t even see what killed them. They look over at the intoxicated Sans, still hanging out by the champagne table; they will have to try again, but they will have to keep an eye out for whatever killed them. It takes a moment for them to repress their anger at their assassin and at themselves for being caught off guard, but a moment makes a big difference.

 

It took Sans’s drunken mind a few seconds to process where he was and why the floor was spinning but when he figured it out he felt like smacking himself over the head. Why the fuck did he think getting even remotely buzzed was a good idea?! 

Chara, however, has taken a few seconds too. And that is more than enough reason to take a heel turn and hurry away from the table while they are still stunned. He quickly stumbles his way into the bathroom, locking the door and leaning over the ornate sink. His forehead is covered in cold sweat, and he is shaking so intensely he can't even get a proper grip on the sink handle.

He really wishes he was capable of vomiting. It seems like that is the only thing that can get rid of the slimy feeling crawling in his gut.

 

They had been expecting the drunk skeleton to still be with the champagne when they finished cooling off, but when they look over, he’s disappeared. Well shit, time to look around for him. If all else fails, they can corner him when the party is over. They are glad they got their notes down, at least - they hate playing catch up.

 

What should he do?  _ What should he do? _

Since Chara didn’t catch him again, his options are more open. But he can’t be too obvious that he’s scared or seriously disturbed. Chara is arrogant but not  _ stupid _ , and they’d notice that he’s acting unusually jumpy. At least their mysterious assassin will keep half their mind occupied for days. Maybe he can get a little rest.

Reason told him he should teleport back to his room at the castle, as it’s a predictable spot and wouldn’t be unusual for him to be there. But panic tells him that the only safe place right now is home. He remembers to unlock the bathroom door for the rest of the party-goers before vanishing and appearing outside in the Snowdin woods. He falls to his seat, breathing in heavily and letting his eye flare brightly in an attempt to release some of his anxiety.

It didn’t happen. It didn’t technically happen  _ none of that happened _ .

Sans buries his head in his arms and doesn’t move.

All night.

 

Chara can’t find him anywhere. Not even his brother knows where he is, and he in’t in any of the rooms. 

_‘Oh_ _well._ ’ The Prinx thinks to themselves with an indifferent sigh. They might as well enjoy the rest of the party and just see Sans in the morning.

 

By morning, Papyrus is visibly concerned, rushing around everywhere and asking if his brother has been seen. He hadn’t appeared in bed like almost always, or any other of his usual spots. Even Grillby hadn’t seen him. The younger skeleton was quite near to a mental breakdown.

“Papyrus?” Chara calls out, announcing their presence. “Any sign of your brother yet?”

_“_ _NO!!!!”_ Papyrus shrieks, turning around to face the prinx, _“_ _I CAN’T FIND HIM ANYWHERE! HE’S NOT BACK IN OUR HOUSE AT SNOWDIN, HE ISN’T ANYWHERE IN THE CASTLE, HE’S NOT IN HOTLAND OR AT GRILLBY’S OR ANY OF HIS OLD SENTRY POSTS!!! HE’S JUST...JUST DISAPPEARED!!!!”_

“I do hope he is alright, he was quite drunk last night...” Chara opens their arms, offering a hug to the taller skeleton.

Papyrus grabs them up probably a bit tighter than they would have liked, hugging them closely as his chin trembles, “ I SHOULDN’T HAVE CALLED HIM A LAZY BONES! HE MUST HAVE RUN AWAY BECAUSE I HURT HIS FEELINGS! I’M A TERRIBLE BROTHER! ”

“gee, Paps...we know that’s not true.” Sans wanders back in slowly, hood up and hands in the pockets of his favorite blue jacket. His eyes can’t be seen but his grin can. It’s a bit forced. “there’s no better brother out there than you.”

_ “SANS!” _ Papyrus lets go of Chara and immediately snatches up his smaller brother, spinning a bit and locking the skeleton tightly in his arms as if afraid he’ll escape again,  _ “WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! I’VE BEEN WORRIED SICK! EVERYONE HAS BEEN WORRIED SICK!” _

“i think ‘everyone’ is a bit of a stretch, bro.” Sans murmurs, going limp and relaxed in his sibling’s arms as always,  “sorry i scared ya. just kinda wandered off. anythin’ to avoid work, right? heh.” 

“UGH!” Papyrus gives a huff and pulls Sans back, holding him under the arms up at eye level, “DON’T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN! IF YOU’RE GOING TO SKIP WORK THEN AT LEAST SHOW UP WHERE I KNOW I CAN FIND YOU!”

“yyep. sorry.” Sans repeats, chuckling and putting his hands back in his pockets as Papyrus sets him down, “really didn’t mean to worry ya, Paps.” He gives a genuine, guilty wince, “i just wasn’t thinkin’ straight.”

“...WELL. I SUPPOSE I FORGIVE YOU. JUST THIS ONCE! DON’T LET IT EVER HAPPEN AGAIN!” Papyrus shakes his finger at him like a scolding parent.

Sans just grins back,  “cross my SOUL.” He promises.

“We are just glad you’re safe.” They say gently, resting a hand on Papyrus’s shoulder. “It’s easy to get lost when you wander drunk, admittedly I speak from experience.” They add with a chuckle.

The short skeleton’s grin becomes a bit more forced,  “heh. yeah, i won’t be making that mistake again.” He hopes Chara understands this to mean that he’s not going to be so stupid as to get caught in such a vulnerable state again. 

“Glad to hear. The last thing we need is for you to disappear and upset your brother once more.”

“yeah. won’t happen again.” Sans lies, and then sits down on the ground,  “welp, i’m tired.”

“WHAT?! YOU’VE PROBABLY BEEN NAPPING FOR WHO KNOWS HOW LONG THIS ENTIRE TIME-!”

“too tired.” Sans falls back, hands still in his pockets and his knees bent,  “go on without me, bro. i’ll think of you when i’m lonely.”

“UNBELIEVABLE.” Papyrus grumbles, picking Sans up again and slinging him over his shoulder, “ONE OF THESE DAYS YOUR AMAZING BROTHER WON’T BE THERE TO CARRY YOU TO BED. THEN WHAT WILL YOU DO?!”

“heh. i dunno, bro...” Sans lets his chin drop against Papyrus’s shoulder, eyes closing tightly as his grin falters, “i don’t know….”

Chara follows along, making polite conversation with Papyrus, and the occasional flirtatious line with Sans (all of which are entirely ignored) until they reach the castle.

“Excuse me, Papyrus would you mind If I have some time alone with your brother?”

“NOT AT ALL! PERHAPS YOU CAN TALK SOME SENSE INTO HIM!” Papyrus opens the door and carefully sets the already-asleep skeleton on his bed,  “I AM ALREADY LATE FOR MY TRAINING. I MUST GO REPORT IN TO UNDYNE!” The last part he appears to be mutter-yelling to himself as he steps out the door in long strides and makes his way to the captain's house.

 

Sans curls up a bit tighter, letting out a quiet sigh when he's laid down on the soft mattress. He immediately wraps an arm around the closest pillow and hides his face in it, giving a sleepy grunt against the small, fluffy cushion and sighing again. 

Chara shuts and locks the door, then gets on the bed behind Sans, and traces a slightly sparked finger down his spine.

“So, how are you feeling Sans?”

Sans jolts and immediately pulls away, jerking the bed covers over his shoulder and sinking down beneath the blankets,  “uncomfortable.” He mutters.

“ You seem pretty comfortable to me.”

“ i’d be  _ blissfully _ comfy if you kept your hands to yourself.”  Sans assures.

“Why the cold shoulder Sans? Playing hard to get?”

“not interested.”  He says, calmly but firmly. 

“Surely not even for just a one night 'encounter’? I’m not one for romance myself, either.”

“nnnnnope.”  He says stubbornly, curling up tighter.

“If I may ask, why not? I promise I am good at what I do~”

“i’m not interested.” Sans repeats.

“Any reason why?”

“wow this is a conversation i’d rather not be having.”

“Why not?” Chara knew they were pestering at this point, but a new curiosity arose in them, wondering how Sans would react.

“you're just gonna have to learn to cope with rejection, pal. not everybody is gonna like yah.”  Sans says plainly, his eyes watching them from between a gap in the thick sheets. 

“Interesting conclusion. However, I have been nothing but nice, and you seem to hate me all the more from it.”

“that's your opinion.”  Sans shrugs, “i won't judge you for it.” The slight narrowing of his eyes seems to indicate otherwise.

_ ‘ _ _ You dirty brother killer.’  _

“So you admit to liking me?”

“don't pull ideas like that outta your ass kid.” Sans flips the blanket down so he's completely hidden,  “they'll come back to bite yah in it.”

Chara laughs. “Well said, but may I ask why you seem to be hiding from me?”

Because he's terrified. Because he can feel himself start to tremble when he looks in their eyes. Because every time he hears that sickly sweet voice he's back in that moment, pinned to the wall with Chara's fingers crawling all over his chest and back. Because just being in their presence reminds him of what his SOUL was forced to feel. 

“i hide from everyone when i’m trying to get some sleep.”

“Fair enough. Well, I’d better let you get some rest, avoiding work you don't have.” They say with a chuckle and a wink.

“yeah.”  He grumbles, twisting the sheets in his fists and gritting his teeth, waiting until Chara was gone before he unwraps himself a bit. Fucking psychopath…

Sans shivers, shutting his eyes tightly and taking in shaky breaths.

None of that had happened. 

 

Chara sits at the end of the hall, reviewing their notebook. They have a pretty good memory, but things could always get muddled in their mind and it’s always good to review it once in awhile. Besides, they are waiting for Sans to leave the room to catch him unaware. They make a save point for convenience if they are attacked again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adorable thinggss


	9. Nah.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't trust food you didn't see served.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmhmhm

Sans didn't leave his room.

For twenty-four hours he stayed right there, barely moving. He'd decided he was going to sleep until his nightmares stopped being about the last RESET. He knew he couldn't hide for forever, but that wouldn't stop him from trying.

“SANS! YOU LAZY BONES, GET UP! YOU CAN'T SPEND ALL DAY IN BED!”  Papyrus yanks the sheets off of his brother, but Sans being the masterful ‘lazy bones’ that he is, has back up blankets underneath the one removed.

“sure i can, bro. just watch.”

“UGH!  _ SANS _ !”

“yeah?”

“GET! UP!”

Sans reaches his arm out from the blanket and grabs hold of Papyrus's scarf, taking it captive inside his little cave.  “nah.”

“ _ SANS GIVE MY SCARF BACK THIS INSTANT!” _

“nope.”

“SANS-!”  Papyrus grabs what he can see of the material and pulls on it, stopping when he sees Sans still clinging to it, his grip unnaturally persistent for his usual apathetic nature.  “...........SANS? BROTHER? ARE YOU OKAY?”

“nope.”

The taller skeleton sighs,  “AND I TAKE IT YOU DO NOT WANT TO TALK ABOUT WHY.”

“nah.”

Papyrus is quiet for a moment, and then skillfully unwraps Sans from his tangle of blankets, far more practiced with the art than anyone should be.  “FINE. BUT YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO LET THE GREAT PAPYRUS SECURELY TUCK YOU IN!” He takes his scarf and wraps it around Sans’s neck before undoing the mess of sheets and straightening them out. Picking up his brother, the skeleton pulls the re-sorted covers over him.  “THERE! I TAKE IT YOU NEED MY SCARF TO WARD OFF THE NIGHTMARES! SO YOU CAN SAFELY GET SOME  _ PROPER _ REST NOW-!”

Sans sits up suddenly and wraps his arms around Papyrus’s shoulders,  “did i ever tell you you're the best bro ever?”

This behavior is definitely concerning. “THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS THE BEST AT EVERYTHING, BUT MOST ESPECIALLY THAT.” He pats Sans’s head before gently forcing him to lie down again,  “NOW, I CAN'T BELIEVE I AM SAYING THIS, BUT PLEASE GET MORE SLEEP! I EXPECT YOU TO BE FULLY HEALTHY AND IN GOOD SPIRITS SOON.”

Sans shudders at the choice of words ( _ “Glad to see you in good spirits.  _ _ It'll be more fun to break you if you start out strong”)  _ but stubbornly gives his brother a grin anyway before collapsing back onto the mattress, “i’ll try, bro.”

“....AND, IF YOU EVER NEED TO, I CAN ALWAYS LISTEN! JUST REMEMBER THAT, BROTHER. I…” Papyrus sighs but stays standing straight,  “I LOVE YOU.”

Sans’s eyes threaten to start watering,  “heh...love you  _ to the bone  _ too, Paps.”

“UGH! GOODBYE!”  Papyrus gives a huff and leaves the room, turning the lights back off before he closes the door and lets Sans be.

 

“I beg pardon Papyrus, but I am under the impression that your brother your brother is not feeling well, I have brought him some sustenance however, if you do not mind?”

Papyrus stops abruptly to avoid running their Majesty over,  “OH! WOWIE, THAT'S NICE OF YOU! I HAVEN'T SEEN HIM EAT IN SOME TIME…” Papyrus looks over his shoulder uncertainly,  “...BUT HE  _ IS _ VERY TIRED...I CAN SEE SHADOWS UNDER HIS EYE SOCKETS. IF SANS IS NOT SLEEPING WELL AND CONSTANTLY, HE IS DEFINITELY NOT HIMSELF!”

“Any idea of what the matter could be?”

“...OCCASIONALLY HE HAS THESE DAYS WHERE HE IS JUST VERY UPSET. I TRY TO DO EVERYTHING I CAN TO MAKE HIM HAPPIER, BUT EVEN MY BEST SPAGHETTI DOES NO GOOD! I WON'T STOP YOU FROM VISITING HIM, YOUR MAJESTY, BUT IF HE IS SLEEPING KINDLY DON'T DISTURB HIM! I DON'T THINK HE'S PROPERLY SLEPT IN DAYS!”

“On my honour Papyrus, I will help ensure your brother’s restfulness.”

“THANK YOU YOUR MAJESTY! I SHALL REPAY YOUR FAVOR BY CONTINUING TO BE YOUR GREATEST ROYAL GUARD! NYEHEHEH!” Papyrus salutes them before hurrying on to practice.

 

Sans has already fallen asleep, tucked away with his hood up and his face nearly completely hidden by Papyrus’s scarf.

Chara makes sure the younger brother is long gone before entering the room. Sans shifts a bit in his sleep but otherwise remains unaware of the waking world. The Prinx sets the tray on the end table, and sits in a dark corner of the room, staying out of Sans’s immediate view if he is to wake up. 

He rolls over, smelling food and dazedly opening his eyes to see a steaming tray, unaware of Chara waiting out of sight and watching. He gives a chuckle and sighs, sitting up and pulling the platter onto his lap.  “ah, Paps...what would i do without yah, bro?” The skeleton takes off the lid and begins heartily eating the meal he assumes is from his brother and therefore safe. It doesn’t take him long to polish it off - it was a small meal of a couple eggs, milk, and some hash browns, but it came with a unhealthily healthy amount of ketchup, too. A small bottle but soon an empty one.

Sighing contentedly, Sans sets the platter back on the table and scoots back down under the covers, letting his eyes close again.

 

He wakes to the feeling of being carried. His reflexive thought of it being Papyrus carrying him is, to his horror, wrong. When he opens his eyes to look up...it’s Chara, returning his gaze with a smug smile and a hungry look in their eyes. His eyes open wider and he tries to thrash out of the grip, but all he succeeds in doing is shifting his shoulders slightly. His breathing becomes rapid as he continues to try and free himself regardless, eyes roving around desperately for any sign of help. He tries to summon a blaster like last time, but his eye won’t even glow.

His chest starts very quickly rising and falling as he tries to wake up, to will himself to move, to fight, to scream,  _ anything _ .

But nothing happened.

Chara feels his slight movements, and they look at him, smirking. “Don’t worry Sans, you won’t remember a thing after tonight.” They are in an abandoned part of the castle, Sans realizes.

_ ‘no no no no no! oh god not again please not again!’  _ He stares up at Chara with a horrified expression, pleading silently for MERCY. Don’t do this not again please please just let me go-

But his pleas go unheard as they reach what looks to be a heavy door. Chara sets Sans onto the ground as they take out a set of keys, and begins to unlock it. He tries to crawl away, his fingers scraping the ground uselessly as he looks up and reaches over forward, managing to roll onto his stomach before his body shuts down again.  _ ‘no no no no no no no no!’  _ In a frantic moment he tries to teleport, but even that isn’t working for him anymore. Suddenly Sans really is the small, helpless skeleton that Chara sees him as.

The door opens, Chara picks him up, and they enter the abandoned dungeons. The door is closed behind them. Sans manages to let out a choked, quiet cry of fear from the back of his throat, pupils shrunk so small that they are pinpricks. He can’t go through this again. He’s still too scared he can’t do it-

“Don’t worry Sans, you are not in trouble. I am just curious about you is all.” Chara says in response to his choked noise. “No hard feelings at all.” They reach the bottom of the steps, and pass the cells, headed straight for what Chara has designated as the torture room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter next tonight.  
> But far from the end.  
> Part 2 tomorrow~


	10. You Won't Remember a Thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are some consequences that Chara can't escape and that Sans can't hide.
> 
> Warning: SOUL rape

Sans is shaking in their grip, eyes roving as he looks for any sort of escape. He's acting more panicked, far more panicked than last time, but last time he had known (or at least thought he'd known) what he was in for. This was just a drugged, unforeseen abduction.

“Here we are~” Chara says as they set Sans down and lock the “Torture Room” door. Sans notices they scope around the room suspiciously, as if looking for an unseen intruder. Well, at least  _ that _ is still on their mind. He'd managed to give them a reason to look over their shoulder more often. A bit more restlessness, maybe meant a bit more distraction from torturing him.

“hhfff..hff..” Sans manages to crawl a few feet towards the exit, but he's fighting to reach a locked door. There's no reason in his actions, just panic. 

Chara laughs as they grab his arm, pulling him up by it. “You seem unusually panicked, I haven't even done anything other than the weak paralysis poison I gave you.” They carry him by his arm over to where the chains are located.

Sans has no choice but to be slack in their grip, bare toes dragging on the floor,  “n-no..” He gasps out, “l-let…”  He shuts his eyes, dizziness overwhelming him until he passes out.

 

When he regains consciousness, he is chained up, shirtless (but still in his jacket, for some reason), and his side to the wall. It's clear they are continuing where they left off. 

“Welcome back Sans. I am sure you slept well~”

_ ‘it's just another nightmare it's just another nightmare it's just another nightmare…’  _ Sans shuts his eyes tightly and wills himself to wake up, his shoulders shaking. 

“Now, to get that SOUL glowing.” They murmur to themselves. Sans feels once again their electrified fingers stroking his sternum and spine.

Sans yelps, forced to accept that this is the current reality,  “Ch-Chara no! what are you  _ doing _ stop it!” Sans cries, hoping maybe desperation will come off as unappealing. 

“Oh, forgive my lack of an explanation. Well, forgive my blunt summary, as I have already explained this to you, and am trying to just get right to the point. I am a time traveller, but I am only able to go back in time to almost any day, hour, or minute I please. No one remembers but me. Anyway, I am just simply finishing where I left off last timeline~” They explain as they increase the voltage, not bothering to work him up slowly - this isn’t seduction after all.

_ “AAAHHH! GAH!”  _ Sans recoils as best he can, sweat already beginning to roll off of his forehead at the unexpectedly intense amount of pleasure,  “ _ stop stop stop stop  _ stop  _ it, please!” _

Chara just smirks, and continues, waiting for his SOUL to start glowing. Sans squirms against the wall, shutting his eyes,  “Ch-Chara p-please j-just let me go  _ please  _ i w-won't tell anyone i-i s-swear!”

“Of course you won’t. You won’t remember this event at all~”

Sans shudders and pulls weakly against the chains, yelping whenever Chara increases the voltage, “wh-why...wh-why are you doing this?! because i turned you down?!”

“You always do. No matter what I do. I guess I have gotten tired of attempting to manipulate you, and so, I am just going with the direct approach. Which is admittedly much more entertaining.”

Sans trembles under the unwanted and intimate touch,  “i-it d-doesn’t h-have to be l-like this, Majesty, it...w-we could go to Grillby’s s-some time? m-maybe?” He pleads, giving a choked moan as the intensity is increased.

“Grillby’s huh. I’ll keep that in mind for when I rewind time to before this all happened. Any other useful things I need to know?”

“h..h-how m-many times h-have you done this t-to me?” Sans isn't entirely sure that this is only the second time - RESETS can get blurry. One of those nightmares might have been true….

“This will be only the second time I have tortured you in a pleasurable manner. Painfully…? Hmm, my memory escapes me of the exact number, but I would guess about 27 times.” Chara stops, seeing that Sans’s SOUL is glowing brighter than last time. “There we go~” They turn him to where his back is against the wall, and they begin to inspect his chest. 

Sans holds as still as he can, face flushed blue and his mouth hanging partially open, “s-so as...as soon as..you...you get wh-what you w-want from me, y-you’ll stop this..?” He asks in a whisper, shivering and panting hard, fighting a losing battle to keep his tongue in his mouth.

“For now admittedly. I may do it again in another timeline because this is equally as fun as the painful torture.” Using their magic, they begin to draw out his SOUL forcefully.

Sans’s back arches in pain, and his scream is one of agony,  _ “GAH! NO NO CH-CHARA PLEASE NO D-DON’T  _ **_-NNGH_ ** _! - LET IT GO DON'T DO THIS!”  _

Chara grins as they stop pulling, allowing it to hover where it is to reduce the pain. “Time for the fun part~”

“Ch-Chara p-please...wh...wh-whatever it is th-that you want, i'll give it to you. just...i-if you n-never...i-i’ll cooperate..w-with anything else!” His chest is heaving,  “...p-please… _ please  _ don’t do this!”  Sans has only a vague idea of what ‘this’ is but he knows that SOULs aren’t meant to be touched by someone with intentions like Chara’s. He feels his bones crawl whenever their fingers graze the surface of the white heart.

“Don’t worry. If I do this again in another timeline, you won’t remember it having ever happened. It will be like the first time everytime.” Chara strokes his SOUL gently, getting a feel for it. “And hopefully, in one of those times, I can finally persuade you to be enamored of me and submit willingly.”

“ _ ghhh _ ! nngh..uh..gh..” Sans shuts his eyes, shivering and drawing his shoulders in, “p-please..”

They poke at it for a bit, taking a quick break to write in their notebook, then they raise an electrified finger to his SOUL.

The skeleton’s eyes widen in terror, and he starts thrashing against the chains, choking on screams.  “Ch-Chara n-no p-please! not th-that not that  _ don’t do it please _ -!”

Chara chuckles at his fruitless attempts to convince them to stop, and to get free of the chains. “Why should I?”

“y-y-you don’t know wh-what y-you’re doing y-you aren’t...you aren’t s-s-supposed to t-touch th-that!”

“Your ‘supposed to’ and ‘not supposed to’ rules do not apply to me, Sans. I control the very timeline. I am  _ above  _ your consequences.” They connect their finger to his SOUL. 

The skeleton jolts violently, his legs drawing up and entire body shaking. His head falls back, and he gives a choked scream, shutting his eyes tightly. No no no no no  _ this couldn’t be happening... _

His SOUL brightens until it’s blinding, and Sans lets loose a weak cry, gasping for air. And then his SOUL abruptly goes out, fading to a dim grey color. Sans goes slack in the chains, not moving except for his constant shivering.

Chara inspects the darkened SOUL - there’s a small fracture in it, just as they expected. Monster SOULS are not all that fragile, really. It can take months and months of abuse before it even cracks, but certain actions cause immediate fractures. They have toyed with other SOULS with both romantic intention, and violent. Non-consensual SOUL touching such as this always  _ always  _ causes a fracture, even with the strongest monsters. 

They write in their notebook before pushing Sans’s SOUL back into his body.

“guh..” Sans whimpers as his SOUL is carelessly shoved back behind his rib cage like it’s nothing of importance. He keeps his eyes closed, trembling and trying his best not to cry. He feels filthy - he feels more vulnerable than he ever has in his life. More than anything he just wants to curl up and go to sleep for forever, or at least long enough to pretend that this hadn’t just happened to him. His breath hitches as he thinks of how Papyrus is going to react to seeing his brother fractured.

Sans can’t remember the last time he even heard rumors of a SOUL break. It was a crime punishable by death in the Underground. After all, a SOUL consisted of a monster’s entire being. Their character, their health, their strength, and their memories. And Sans’s memories are never wiped clean by RESETS.

He feels Chara looking at him and turns his head down and away, hiding his face and trembling as he tries to just  _ breathe _ and not cry.

Although their intentions weren’t murderous, Chara feels the need to check, especially with Sans being so weak and acting so hurt.

_ Sans _

_ 1 HP, 1 AT _

_ Feels violated. Wants his brother. _

They lower the chains so Sans is resting on the ground as they organize their notes, giving him a bit of a break before they continue. He wraps his arms over his chest, drawing in his knees and trying to stay as small as possible. There’s a slight split in his SOUL, now - he can feel it.

“Don't worry, that feeling will be gone. I am almost done with you and then this will have never happened.”

“.....S-SOUL m-marks d-don’t f-fade..” Sans chokes out, shoulders shaking. 

“With future time they don’t, that much is true. However, when I reload the timeline, it will have never happened, thus, it will have never existed.”

“....d-do y-you h-have  _ any _ idea wh-what...wh-what y-you j-just did…”

“I do indeed. You are not the first monster SOUL I have messed with. I know how special it is. That is why it caused a fracture.” Chara smirks at him, “You should feel honored. I don’t often bother with SOUL sex at all.”

Hearing the word just somehow makes it worse, “ _ wh-why _ ...why would i-i f-feel...a-anything b-but disgusting?”

“Oh please, Sans. Do you think any other monster would have willingly become Soulmates with you? I have lived through hundreds of timelines, nearly a thousand, and no one has ever shown interest in you. You’re too pathetic.”

Sans flinches, “i-i don’t  _ care _ about th-that…” A bit of a lie. “you...you d-don’t kn-know wh-what...wh-what i-it’s like...t-to h-have your SOUL j-just  _ t-taken _ ...by s-someone who d-doesn’t care about you…”

“I am more interested in others than myself.” Chara puts their notebook down, and Sans is forced back to his feet by the chains. “Ready for the last half?”

Sans’s eyes widen and he gives a strangled sob, not caring how pathetic he looks,  “Ch-Chara p-please..” He begs,  “i-i c-can’t t-take a-anymore j-just...j-just e-end th-this... _ please _ !”

“That is exactly what I am doing, do not worry.” They take out a knife, and trace it along his sternum.

He cries out in alarm the moment they touch his chest, terrified that they’re going to do it all  _ again _ ,  “wh-what are y-you d-doing  _ n-now _ ?!”

“Having a bit of personal fun.” The knife digs painfully into the bone, and they grin at the pained yelp this gives them. They carve methodically, as if making a pattern.

“gah! ...c-can’t you afford to be a little m-more specific…? i’m n-not gonna r-remember…” 

“Just carving my name. I have waited a long time to have you, Sans. And while I know it will be gone, it's still rewarding for me to leave my mark, even if it’s not permanent.”

Sans feels his H.P slipping, and he curls up his fists,  “h-heh...th-that’s what you think…”

“What do you mean by that?” Chara questions. But it is too late. They have finished writing their initials, with the intent of killing, and Sans ran out of HP immediately. He’s nothing more than dust, now. “Damn.”

 

Sans finds himself back in the castle bed. Chara is just passing by, and going to their study to file paperwork. They have gotten almost all they want from the skeleton for now. Except for that last comment. What did he mean by it? They are still going to have to maintain surveillance of him, less flirtatious and more casual to find out.

 

The skeleton stays in bed, wrapped in as many layers as possible to cover his damaged SOUL. He waits for Paps to come by. He wants his brother. But he can’t go looking for him by himself. He might see Chara.

It takes several hours, but eventually the door slams open, and  “SANS! YOU LAZY BONES, GET UP! YOU CAN'T SPEND ALL DAY IN BED-!”

Sans jumps up and clings to his brother immediately, shaking like a leaf and crying against his scarf, not bothering to show restraint,  “p-paps i w-wanna g-go h-home i w-wanna g-go h-home p-please p-please l-let’s j-just g-go h-home, o-okay?”

Papyrus of course instantly holds his brother, baffled and very concerned,  “SANS? WHAT’S WRONG…?” He tries to pull him back to look him in the eye sockets, but Sans’s grip doesn’t let up,  “SANS! PLEASE TALK TO ME!”

“i w-wanna g-go  _ h-home _ …”

The taller skeleton puts his hand on his brother’s back, eyes widening as he feels the fracture in the fragile SOUL hidden away beneath his thick jacket,  “.......S-SANS…?”  He chokes, eyes watering as he realizes that irreparable damage has been done to his only family right under his nose.  “S-SANS WH-WHAT HAPPENED?! WH-WHO DID THIS TO YOU?!” He’s shaking in anger but also fright - Sans could have  _ died _ . He only has 1 HP whoever did this could have shattered his SOUL to pieces!

“i w-wanna g-go  _ h-home _ , P-Paps..” Sans sobs, hiding his face in his brother’s scarf and wheezing.  “l-let’s j-just g-go, a-alright? r-right now, l-let’s… ”

Papyrus knows he should tell Chara. He should inform Undyne and alert them to the situation. But for now, all he really cares about is getting Sans back home.

“O-OKAY, BROTHER...P-PAPYRUS IS HERE! Y-YOU’RE SAFE NOW! YOU’RE...YOU’RE SAFE! I…” Tearfully he clutches Sans closer, exiting the room and running for the castle entrance, “I-I’M S-SO SORRY, SANS…”

 

The next day, Chara had sought audience with Undyne, as they have seen neither skeleton brother at the castle.

“All Papyrus told me was that there was a family emergency your Majesty. I gave him the next few days off of training.” Undyne reported with a salute.

“Thank you Undyne. You may get back to business.”

“Yes Prinx Chara.” 

Family emergency? There is only the two of those skeletons. Something really odd must have happened, and they are determined to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weeellllppp that's it for part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Still here?


End file.
